The big throw keeps eluding Marshall Hall (Taieri) in the discus. He once again failed to break the 55m barrier at the Caledonian Ground.
His second throw sailed over 55m but it did not count because it flew outside the sector.
Hall's first four throws were fouls but he still won the senior men's title at the Otago athletics championships on Saturday when his final two throws were legal.
Hall (23) won the title with a throw of 51.84m from clubmate Jerram Huston with 39.17m and Hamish Finnie (Hill City) with 35.60m.
Hall also had four fouls when he finished third in the Sydney Track Classic the previous weekend. Two of those throws were over 55m.
"I am working on a few technical issues," Hall said. "It was unfortunate to get two throws outside the sector. I haven't done that in the last three years."
His coach, Raylene Bates, was watching the three-time New Zealand champion from the sideline.
"We are working on a few minor technical problems. Marshall will be ready when it counts in a month's time," she said.
Another Bates-trained thrower, Holly Robinson (Taieri), qualified for the London Paralympics when she won the Otago junior women's javelin title with a throw of 27.22m.
The qualifying standard is 25m and Robinson beat the mark three times. Her other qualifying throws were 26.19m and 26.66m.
She also won the junior women's discus with a throw of 31.03m.
Dean Rusbatch (Taieri) gained the only Otago record when he finished second in the senior men's shot put with 13.80m. The title was won by Jerram Huston (Taieri) with 14.26m.
Rusbatch (17) beat the record standard in the men's 19 grade using the 7.26kg implement. It was a personal-best throw by 1.48m.
It was the second Otago record set by Rusbatch in the past two weeks. He also set a mark for a 17-year-old with the 6.25kg shot put with a distance of 14.92m.
It broke a 36-year-old record Richard Dryden (Alhambra) set in 1975, by 31cm.
Andrew Whyte (Hill City) gave up the chance to win the senior men's title in his specialist 400m because of a problem with his right foot.
"I rolled my ankle on a bit of dirt when I was warming up for a race last year," Whyte said.
He is being treated by a podiatrist who has given him exercises to strengthen his foot.
"It's been a hindrance for me and I can't do much training at the moment," Whyte said.
He ran the fastest 400m time in the country this season when he won the senior boys title at the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Wellington in December in 46.91sec.
Whyte demonstrated his class in the shorter events on Saturday when he won the men's 19 sprint double.
He won the 100m in 10.95sec from Blair Grant (Taieri) in 11.01sec and also beat Grant in the 200m by powering round the bend to clock 22.08sec. Grant was timed at 23.06sec.
Larissa Dyke (Taieri) won the senior women's 100m in 12.13sec and was followed home by Megan McPhail (Hill City) 12.61sec and Fiona Hely (Hill City) 12.70sec.
Liz Wilson (Hill City) won the battle of the Oceania champions in the women's masters over 50 200m in 27.30sec. Claire Giles (Caversham) was runner-up in 30.93sec.
Glen Ballam (Southland) won the senior men's 400m in 49.45sec and the Alexandra pair of Rhian Ward and Cody Benck filled the first two places in the men's aged 16 and 17 400m with times of 53.22sec and 53.27sec.
The pole vault events were dominated by the Craven family, Ian winning the masters men's over 55 title with 2.40m and his daughter, Rosie, the women's 15 and under title with 2.20m.
